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Meningococcal disease in Burkina Faso - update 2

17 April 2007

From 1 January to 8 April 2007, the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso reported 22 255 suspected cases including 1490 deaths (case-fatality rate, 7%). Thirty-four districts are currently over the epidemic threshold. Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from all affected areas have tested positive for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A by latex test and/or culture.

To date, vaccination campaigns have been completed in 15 districts in which 100% of the targeted population of 2.7 million people have been reached. This includes one million people in the capital, Ouagadougou. Vaccination campaigns are still on-going in a further 6 districts. The bivalent vaccine has been secured from The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis Control, as well as from the security stockpiles held by the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso.

The recent appeal for financial support for the vaccination campaigns has been positively received by the international community. Contributions have been forthcoming from European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), Medicos del Mundo, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), Plan Burkina, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), UNICEF, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund , and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which will enable Burkina Faso to finance all necessary vaccination campaigns.